Deodato

Biography

Eumir Deodato Almeida, 21 June 1942, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a child, Deodato (which translates as god given) taught himself to play keyboards and graduated to playing in local pop bands in his teens. He also worked as a session musician (keyboards, bass, guitar) before recording under his own name. His first success came in Brazil with his 1964 solo debut Inútil Paisagem, a recording which successfully fused jazz and bossa nova and placed Deodato alongside Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto at the forefront of the Brazilian music revolution of the 60s. He also inaugurated Os Catedráticos, recruiting many of Brazils leading musicians and recording several albums.

In the mid-60s Deodato enjoyed a productive alliance with João Gilberto and his wife Astrud Gilberto, notably working on the score to the 1965 film Garota De Ipanema (based on the Gilbertos international hit The Girl...